While the investigation into the 20-year-old's disappearance remains open, the lack of clues and a tight-lipped RCMP has sparked wild speculation and instilled lingering fears in the community of Sun Peaks.

Lingering fear, speculation in Sun Peaks since 20-year-old vanished in February

Ryan Shtuka was last seen leaving a house party around 2 a.m. on Feb. 17, 2018. (RCMP)

As Sun Peaks, B.C., prepares for another busy ski season, the mystery of Ryan Shtuka's disappearance continues to haunt the Interior resort town.

Shtuka, 20, vanished one cold night in February after leaving a house party. Despite extensive searching in the months since, no clues have emerged as to his whereabouts.

While the investigation into Shtuka's disappearance remains open, the lack of clues and a tight-lipped RCMP has sparked wild speculation and instilled lingering fears in the community of Sun Peaks, which lies around 60 kilometres northeast of Kamloops.

Friends and family remember Shtuka as a friendly, likeable, easygoing person.

"He just seemed like a really good guy, really genuine and confident. … Everyone liked him up there. He never made any enemies," said Madelyn Piggin, who worked with Shtuka at the Sun Peaks tube park.

"It's just such an unreal thing to happen that I still think he'll show up one day and he'll be fine."

Local newspaper publisher Brandi Schier said Shtuka's disappearance has affected everyone in the area.

"When it comes down to it, we are a small town," Schier said.

"I think everybody did get pretty emotionally involved, especially if you were a younger person and you knew Ryan. The fact that we haven't been able to return Ryan home to his family has been incredibly painful for everybody up here."

Extensive search

Shtuka, a seasonal worker from Beaumont, Alta., left a house party at approximately 2 a.m. on Feb. 17, according to police. He hasn't been seen since.

In the days and weeks following his disappearance, hundreds of volunteers from Alberta and British Columbia, along with local search and rescue teams and the RCMP, searched the village and surrounding forests, trails and mountains, looking for something that might lead to more information about what happened that night.

The initial concern from friends and first responders was that Shtuka had fallen into a gully, which was covered by heavy snow later that weekend. But even as the snow melted into spring, no sign of him was found.

Shtuka, from Beaumont, Alta., was working as a lift operator at the Sun Peaks resort. (Submitted)

Beyond rumours and speculation, Shtuka's disappearance has instilled an element of fear into the community, particularly among young seasonal workers, Strong says.

She said they can relate to Shtuka and don't know whether or not his disappearance was an isolated occurrence.

"I think in some ways that makes people worried, or anxious or afraid," said Strong, who added that some people are too uncomfortable to walk home alone at night in the area where Shtuka was last seen.

Violent death?

Jim Reid, who was staying with friends near the house where Shtuka lived on the night the 20-year-old went missing, told CBC he heard an unusual interaction outside in the middle of that night.

"I heard a guy's voice and it was mad," Reid said.

He said the person he heard was yelling, "get in the car, get in the f--king car."

Reid says he reported what he heard to police, but, after they called him back several times, he hasn't heard anything since.

"He's not confrontational, he's not an instigator, he's not one of those people that would go out of his way to start something," she said

"He was great, funny, a loyal guy, sarcastic, and great with his friends."

But they're still no closer to finding an answer to what happened.

"We don't know why Ryan went missing, we don't know how he went missing, we don't know where he went missing," Heather Shtuka said.

"We want to believe that we'll find him, that a parent's love will be so strong."

Daybreak's Shelley Joyce set out on a mission to find out what happened to missing 20-year-old Ryan Shtuka, who was last seen leaving a house party at Sun Peaks. She spoke with people who have never talked to media before about what they believe happened that cold night in February, 2018. 26:26